All of My Babies

Well, I've noticed that the cell-phone sized fetus has been been getting an disproportionate amount of air time. I will now attempt the game of "Even-Steven", which I know to be impossible to achieve and should not be strived for on a daily basis. More likely, it will all even out in the wash.

Abigail has certainly grown up into a smart and creative young lady. During our weekend visit with the Great Aunts and Great Grandma, Abigail led craft-time. She prepped supplies at the house and taught all of the Aunts how to make origami sea-turtles.

And, we just swung by the local mall where the area elementary schools had the children's artwork on display. I imagined every child got to post an art project, but I was pleasantly proven wrong. Maybe 50 kids from each school got their art displayed and Abigail was one of them. Looks like she's a budding Picasso.

Autumn has learned a whole bunch of new words lately. Just this weekend, she tackled "she", "g-ramma", "g-rampa", "green" and "broccoli". This is huge for us. Being able to understand Autumn goes a long way to keeping everyone sane. She's still headstrong, but at least I understand what she's so grumpy about, even if I don't agree.

This littlest one is still locked up on the inside. Last week I was not hungry, but never felt full. It was a horrible feeling. Nothing was satisfying. At least for today, that feeling has gone away. I don't feel hungry and I feel full. Maybe it was the peanut butter. I haven't eaten peanut butter since the last big Peter Pan PB recall 2 years ago. I now I jump back in during a salmonella outbreak. Go figure. Here's a pic of what the little one might look like; wrinkly and old man-ish.

Belated Update

Well, this week has been busy juggling school and icy weather and stomach flu and head colds... At first I couldn't figure out why I hadn't posted, but I suppose that explains it. I have to admit, I am SO ready for spring. While living in New England sipping tea in front of a warm fire seems so romantic, the reality is I would likely become bitter from being in a constant state of hypothermia. Just the very idea of spring this year brings me hope. Warmer sunny weather that begs you to spend more time outside, the hope of a traditional pickup in the housing market that will overflow to increase hiring in other jobs, birthdays, stroller walks, flowers blooming....Just get here already!

Clinical was awesome this week. Crazy busy, but learned so much. When my preceptor introduced me to the mom of my patient, the mom said that she had heard great things about me the day before. It was nice to hear that people are talking up what a good job I'm doing even when I'm not around.

The baby bump is progressing. Still wearing everyday clothes, so passersby probably just think I'm fat and out of shape. I don't really care because I know better. I even think I've felt a few little kicks this week. I have to be very still and they are very subtle, but they are definitely there. It's nice to have something so fun to distract me from the stressors of everyday life. I have also found that while I am not hungry all of the time, I am never full. This stinks because I like to feel satisfied after a good meal. This does not bode well for my weight gain. The baby has all of its tooth buds, is secreting insulin, and is refining that GI tract. Go villi and peristalsis.

How cool is this picture, a 13 week fetus with an red artsy hue.

The Elfish Gene

Brian has a book review published on SciFi Wire (which was so awesome it needed very few edits). Check it out.
http://scifiwire.com/2009/02/a-trainspotting-like-addiction-to-dd-rules-the-elfish-gene.php

Hello Second Trimester

Well, I had my second appointment today and all is well. My midwife could feel my fundus (top of the uterus for most folks), which was no surprise to me since every time I lay on my stomach I can feel it. I'm up 3 pounds (which is a lot for me for the first trimester, but totally in the realm of normal and I'm sure some would say I should be thankful). Baby's heart rate sounds good and it's an active little fetus. Every time we found the heart beat it would bounce away. I didn't realize you can hear the blood flow of the placenta, but you can and it sounded just the way it's suppose to. It was high up, so I imagine this is a good sign that placenta previa won't be an issue. Lab work came back with a thumbs up and they are already working on scheduling the 22 week ultrasound (just 10 weeks away!).

I have a feeling this pregnancy is going to fly by. I feel like it was just yesterday that I hoping the pregnancy would make it to my first appointment at 8 weeks. I am trying to take the time to enjoy each day of this pregnancy, but it's hard when you don't feel particularly pregnant. I'm not tired or morning sick. I can still wear my everyday jeans. Hopefully I feel some kicks in the next few weeks, then there will be no way to "forget" that I'm pregnant. Just putting this to paper makes it so exciting. Life is really busy right now and we have more than our share of stresses, but this baby is my little reminder of hope and peace and happiness. I have my family and my health and that is what is most important.

P.S. The baby is drinking amniotic fluid and peeing it out. Go kidneys. Here's a picture of what the baby may look like. It's like it's sleeping in a puffy amniotic cloud.

A Little Behind

Well, I was trying to post at the beginning of each week, but am now 11.5 weeks and just now have an opportunity to post. It's been a busy week of school work and feeling unmotivated to do school work (that can consume a lot of time).

I am back on the broccoli. There seemed to be one specific store brand that sent me running, but when I switched back to my usual brand broccoli became De-Licious again. At one point food seemed less than appealing, almost as if I'd been offered sheep's brains. I wasn't going to run for the toilet, but it did make my stomach turn. At any rate, food is fun again. I feel a little bad. Everyone I talk to has it much worse in the morning sickness department. I'm not even that tired this time around. So far it has mimicked Autumn's pregnancy, but I don't believe for a minute that the similarities are suggestive of another girl. I don't believe in gut feelings, the ultrasound will tell us in time.

I've got another appointment on Monday and will officially have completed my first trimester. Now we'll just have to wait and see when I have to expand to maternity clothes. Still loving my jeans for now.

Here's a little pic of what the fetus (not an embryo anymore) could look like. A little alienish, but cool digits.

More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Car Seat Safety

So, I was catching up with a good friend this morning. We're both expecting our thirds about the same time. Our oldests are the same age and our second children were born just a month a part. The conversation turned toward whether our infant car seats we got 6 years ago were still up to snuff.

Now, when it comes to car seat safety, I am neurotic. Both of my kids outgrew the height limit on the infant carrier around 9 months old. I don't think most mom's even consider the height limit and use their carriers until their kids is a year old or they get too heavy for it. The good news is that they make infant carriers to hold children up to 32" now, instead of 29" like they did when my kids were "tiny". Which brings me to the reason why we will be buying a new infant carrier (and convertible car seat).

Car seats expire! That's right folks, after about 6 years, the plastic dries and the no-seeum parts can no longer be trusted to be reliable. And that is 6 years from the date of manufacture, not the date you bought the item. So, I checked the infant seat and it expired last August. Still need to take the convertible car seat out of the car to find the hidden info (really, if they want people to maintain a safe car seat, this info should be readily accessible). Given that we bought this seat when Abigail was 9 months old and she will be almost 6.5 years old when baby #3 arrives, I can just assume that the car seat needs to be tossed. Just as well, since we need a sleeker seat for Autumn to fit 3 car seats across the back.

And this last bit is a little lecturey. The above info most of us are clueless about, but this tidbit I am sure we are all aware. The five point harness is an awesome invention, but often used improperly. The plastic bar should rest just under the collar bones between the shoulder blades. No one ever puts it above because you would be seriously choking your tot, but I've seen many moms put it below the ribs because they don't want it to be too tight. In an accident, this will force the stomach to absorb the impact and will cause a lot of damage. Post all sorts of nasties in the comments section, but when it comes to safety I am not interested in making friends, just keeping the little ones safe.

I don't know about you, but I definitely learned something new today and am now on a mission to find new car seats.

Here is a wiki link, but I found it several places. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_safety_seat#General_child_safety_seat_info